Kingston Police Festive R.I.D.E. already nabs impaired driver

Occurrence #24-44463

The Kingston Police Festive R.I.D.E. (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) Program has commenced for the month of December, already resulting in an impaired driving arrest, plus suspension and other offences.

While they are conducted in various months throughout the year, R.I.D.E. programs are increased during the holiday season, as historically impaired driving increases due to parties and other festivities. Officers are assigned a shift at different hours of the day, setting up at multiple locations in an effort to combat impaired driving by alcohol, drug, or a combination of both.

Officers have the legal authority to stop vehicles to check for impaired drivers, either arriving at reasonable suspicion to demand a roadside breath sample if there’s evidence a driver has consumed alcohol or perform a standardized field sobriety test if drugs are also suspected. Since 2018 police in Canada have also been granted the authority to use Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS), which allows officers to demand that a driver provide a roadside breath sample, whether or not they suspect that the driver has recently consumed alcohol.

As per the Government of Canada’s website:

Research suggests that up to 50% of drivers with a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit may not be detected at roadside check stops. Mandatory alcohol screening is a proven traffic safety measure that will deter and better detect alcohol-impaired drivers.

In addition, in several other jurisdictions where mandatory alcohol screening was enacted, rates of impaired driving and subsequently fatal road accidents, were significantly reduced.

For example, authorities in Ireland credit mandatory alcohol screening with reducing the number of people killed on Irish roads by almost a quarter (23%) in the first year following its enactment in 2006 and almost 40% over the first four years.

A recent interaction demonstrated the value of Mandatory Alcohol Screening. During a R.I.D.E. checkpoint at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 13 on Cataraqui Woods Dr, a 67-year-old local driver was stopped and did not initially show any signs of impairment or provide any other evidence to the questioning officer.

However, upon a Mandatory Alcohol Screening breath demand was read by the officer, the driver provided a sample into an approved roadside screening device, registering a “Fail.” The driver was consequently arrested, transported to the Kingston Police station, where further breath samples into an Intoxilyzer instrument indicated he was over the legal limit of 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.

The driver was charged criminally and later released with a pending court date. His driver’s licence is automatically suspended for 90 days, which would then become a one-year suspension upon conviction. His vehicle was towed at the roadside and is impounded for seven days, with the owner responsible for all related tow and impound fees. 

That same R.I.D.E. program also resulted in a three-day licence suspension due to another driver providing a sample in the Warn range of between 50-80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, various Highway Traffic Act offences, as well as charges under the Cannabis Control Act for having marijuana within reach of, or readily available to, the driver.

As the holiday season carries on and Kingston Police continue to combat impaired driving by conducting further R.I.D.E. programs, awareness, and education, people are advised to plan ahead, take alternative transportation, assign a designated driver, and know your limits. Arrive alive!